Belvidere police to try experimental shift

The Belvidere Police Department will try an experimental work shift this fall to keep an additional officer on the street during peak call times.

Betsy Lopez Fritscher

The Belvidere Police Department will try an experimental work shift this fall to keep an additional officer on the street during peak call times.

Two of the department’s 44 officers will alternate the 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. shift over a seven-day workweek, Belvidere police Chief Jan Noble said.

“Annually, we respond to 29,000 calls for service per year, which range from checking on barking dogs to crime in progress, an assist or police response to an accident or death,” Noble said. “On a semiannual basis, the Belvidere Police Department takes a close look at our peak hours for police service. These peak hours reflect the greatest number of calls to the Public Safety Building and require a Belvidere police officer to respond to any incident.”

The experimental shift will overlap the department’s other two shifts.

“In light of the economic condition of the city, the chief’s faced with using all resources in a 24-hour shift,” Noble said. “This puts an additional officer on the street.”

The department’s operating budget is $4.1 million, Noble said, with nearly $3 million allocated for officer pay in its 2010 budget year, which began May 1.

Belvidere’s general fund budget is $12.6 million, with a shortfall estimated at $1.2 million as of Wednesday, said Pat Chamberlin, city finance director.

Staff writer Betsy López Fritscher can be reached at bfritsch@rrstar.com or 815-987-1377.